The consumption of food is a basic need of every living thing. We can say that food determines our daily life just as much as it does the lives of animals. Moreover, in a sense, we are slaves to what we eat. So we are not so far removed from our lesser brothers.
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Think about the impact of food on your state of being. I don’t mean the gastronomic pleasure of food or the sneaky feeling of hunger, but rather the dependence of your mood and well-being (and even more so, your gut health) on what you eat. Think back to how you feel after a meal? Do you feel a rush of energy or a long “memory” of what you ate? How does your mood change after a piece of bitter chocolate? How does a dense lunch affect your performance and clarity of perception of information?
By the way, not only WHAT we eat – freshness, chemical composition, benefits, calories, etc. – but also HOW we eat plays a role. For example, a coffee break during a stressful negotiation, a “grabbed” hot dog on the road or a late-night calorie-laden dinner often end up with a heavy stomach, heartburn and regrets about what we ate.
Finally, and most importantly. No matter how useful and super nutritious for the brain was your lunch – it is worthless if your body can not properly digest it, and all the useful substances – to absorb.
A lot doesn’t mean good.
Let’s start with the simplest of all: hunger. It’s built into us that we can die of hunger, so without thinking, we instinctively try to satisfy hunger as quickly as possible. This makes common sense: starvation actually lowers our vitality because the mitochondria, the “powerhouses of the cells,” don’t get fuel without food, and therefore can’t produce energy.
But there’s a trick here.
Since ancient times, our bodies have learned to survive without food in an emergency. Yes, our primitive ancestors had “black streaks”: for example, unsuccessful hunting could deprive them of food for several days. At the same time, their bodies could do without food. This is absolutely natural behavior of hunters and gatherers, which we once were and still are.
In modern medicine, this is called the “brief fasting” effect. You may be surprised, but brief fasting increases our vitality much more than gluttony. Only instead of carbohydrates, fat is also burned. By the way, the brain suffers from lack of energy only in the beginning, before switching to fat burning, but quickly gets back on track. The brain loves the ketones resulting from fat metabolism: performance, reaction speed and creativity increase.
From an evolutionary and technical point of view, this makes sense. If a person is constantly getting food in their mouth by themselves, there is no need to worry about strategies for getting food. But if there is a constant risk of going without food at all, then extra effort and ingenuity is required to get it.
Brief fasting has another positive effect: more growth hormones are produced. Growth hormones stimulate the formation of stem cells, which in turn “repair” and cause all cells in our body, including brain cells, to regenerate!
Frustration wraps us around its finger
So, the key function of hunger is to signal to the body in time that the mitochondria are running out of fuel and will soon run out of energy. However, sometimes a slight feeling of hunger occurs even when the body is fully supplied with all proteins, fats and carbohydrates. You are drawn to something tasty – a dessert, a bun, chocolate … Having received a tasty “dope”, you feel pleasure, joy.
This is how food turns from a vital physiological need into a way to boost your mood. Sugar acts on the brain like a modern antidepressant, inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin at the nerve ending. This is called a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Medications that perform this function act like antidepressants.
Diabetes mellitus is exclusive to the brain.
A love of sweets can be a troubling symptom. For example, in type III diabetes, the brain experiences a severe lack of carbohydrates due to insulin resistance. It can occur selectively in the brain under great stress or trauma, preventing sugar from reaching “hungry” brain cells. As a consequence of type III diabetes, concentration is impaired and there is an irresistible urge to eat something sweet. It is assumed that Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases are provoked by this condition.
Craving for sweets can be a consequence of stress or psychological trauma. In this case, a short-term and successful therapy is the administration of vitamin D and galactose. But for a sustained effect, of course, it is necessary to reduce the level of stress.
Food for the brain.
Today, scientists have identified foods that the brain particularly “likes”.
1. Omega-3 fatty acids
They reduce not only inflammation in the body, but also represent an important fat building material for the brain. Accordingly, they are indispensable, for example, in multiple sclerosis. Taking omega-3 will help in the fight against depression.
The following foods are the richest in omega-3-acids:
fatty fish species: salmon, herring, mackerel, etc..;
shrimp living in cold water (krill);
algae, zostera;
linseed, rapeseed, hemp and walnut oils.
Triglycerides with medium-length chains, which have recently been recognized as the most beneficial, have almost the same effect. They are found in butter, cream, cheese and coconut oil. You need not be afraid of butter! It contains not only valuable triglycerides, but also butyrate, an important nutrient for intestinal mucosal cells. And how important a healthy gut is for the brain, we’ll discuss soon.
2- Lecithin
Through pharmacology, lecithin has become known as a stimulant of brain activity. It is needed as an insulating “cable” in the brain and is the raw material for important neurotransmitters. Lecithin is found in eggs, nuts and string fruits.
3- Tryptophan
This essential amino acid is necessary for the production of serotonin and melatonin. “The hormone of happiness” serotonin saves depression and pain syndromes, and the sleep hormone melatonin is the key to a good night’s rest.
Usually the body independently extracts tryptophan from incoming food. The most tryptophan-rich foods are cashew nuts, chicken eggs, fish, chocolate (cocoa), and lentils.
However, if the body has a sluggish chronic inflammation (e.g. maxillary sinusitis, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infection, etc.), then instead of serotonin from tryptophan, the so-called “unhappy hormone” kynurenine is formed. The result is a deficiency of serotonin and melatonin with all its consequences: bad mood, irritability, depression, poor sleep or insomnia.
4. Protein
One of the important proteins for the brain is isoleucine. It is found in fish, nuts and meat. Egg white deserves special attention: control its intake. Excessive amounts of egg white increase blood viscosity, thereby impairing microcirculation. Ultimately, this causes oxygen deficiency in the brain.
5. B vitamins
These vitamins are especially important for the nervous system, so make sure your diet includes whole grain products and meat (by the way, vegans are at risk for B12-deficiency anemia).
Often a paradoxical situation arises: despite the correct nutrition, the tests indicate a pronounced deficiency of B vitamins. How does this happen? The fact is that even taking, for example, vitamin B12 in tablet form will be useless if our intestines can not digest it. B12 is absorbed exclusively in the last section of the small intestine. If the work of this section is disturbed (for example, in irritable bowel syndrome, flatulence, fermentation or putrefaction processes), the entire body is under attack.
As we can see, the intestine always plays a determining role.
The brain of the intestine.
It has long been known that our gut has a strong influence on our brain. Even more nerve impulses are sent from the gut to the brain than vice versa. That is, there is a kind of “gut brain” hidden in our stomach, which contains almost as many nerve cells as our brain. It makes sense that an irritated and diseased gut negatively affects our brain.
The big new organ – the microbiome.
One other big organ worth mentioning that we learned about just a few years ago is the microbiome. It consists of about 100 trillion intestinal bacteria in a healthy intestine. In total, these bacteria weigh about 1.5 kg (!) and are found on 400 m2 of the intestinal mucosal surface.
If we remember that our body is made up of only 10 trillion cells, we are at a loss to agree: only 10% of our genes are human. The remaining 90% are genes from gut bacteria.
Not all gut bacteria have been studied so far, as 99% of them are anaerobic. They die after barely leaving our intestines. Scientists have been able to learn about their existence only through expensive molecular genetic tests, so to speak, only after their “death”.
In total, there are about 30,000 different strains of bacteria in our gut. Racial diversity reigns in our body. If the gut acted like some nationalists, it would have been dead a long time ago. All gut bacteria are very important to our health. The greater the diversity of gut bacteria, the stronger our immune system and the better the various bodily functions work.
For our brain, these gut bacteria are very important. Today we know that nervous system diseases such as autism, depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, even amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are linked to an imbalance of certain gut bacteria. A revolution in evidence-based medicine is taking place before our eyes – the gut and its microbiome are becoming increasingly important.
Horror Autotoxicus, or how we poison our own brains.
We have found out what kind of nutrition the brain needs. Equally important is the environment in which we eat. A hasty lunch, gluttony, night snacks, “eating” stress – all this has a detrimental effect on our intestines: it simply can not digest food obtained in such conditions.
The very useful intestinal bacteria turn literally into our enemies: they ferment undigested food, subjecting it to putrefaction. Fermentation produces not only the well-known ethyl alcohol, but also other, more poisonous alcohols: methanol, propanol and butanol. Of the products of putrefaction, the best known is cadaverine, aka corpse poison.
Absorbed into the intestinal wall, ethyl alcohol, methanol or cadaverine cause poisoning, which is perceived by our brain as a mini hangover. Think of your condition the morning after a raucous feast: headache, confused thoughts, performance is at zero… When you eat in improper conditions – rushing, nervous, eating at night – be prepared that after 4-6 hours your brain’s performance will deteriorate.
Healthy eating is very easy.
What does it take to keep our gut and its beloved neighbors healthy and alert and our brains properly fueled?
It is necessary to eat slowly;
Chewing well with enough saliva (one of the most important gut microbes feeds on saliva among other things);
Eat in a relaxed state, as digestion is turned off under stress;
Stop eating when satiety occurs (not when we can no longer eat). When we stop eating on time, diaphragmatic breathing is still working sufficiently, and overeating raises the dome of the diaphragm, resulting in a lack of oxygen.
Reduce the amount of carbohydrates. This will reduce the risk of developing insulin resistance (i.e. diabetes) and also reduce the amount of inflammation in the body. As a bonus, the brain will receive more ketones.
Drink enough fluids to avoid dehydration and drastic fluctuations in electrolyte levels.
Eat plenty of vegetables as antioxidants with high mineral and vitamin content.
Consume omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed oil, fish, hemp oil, walnut oil) and medium chain-length triglycerides (whole grain products, nuts, legumes, chicken eggs, and thankfully dark chocolate).
Don’t be afraid of salt.
Especially during the hot summer months and intense sports, lack of fluids and lack of table salt can have a significant impact on brain function. Most people try to reduce their intake of table salt to a minimum. This is only justified in cases of high blood pressure and a tendency to edema.
Salt is necessary in the body, especially for those with thin, dry skin, when feeling cold, and after heavy sweating. Lack of table salt leads to fluid deficiency. This manifests itself in a feeling of heaviness in the legs, impaired concentration, balance problems.
Movement and relaxation.
But even the healthiest and most balanced diet, proper food intake and adequate fluid intake are not enough for good brain function. Exercise outdoors, adequate sleep, stress management and limiting activities behind a monitor (cell phone, tablet, PC) are equally important.
Admire nature, try to maintain inner balance and calmness in ordinary life, enjoy food, rest more often. In this case, our central computer – the brain – will be awake and productive.
Balance and neutral attitude to stressful events are the key to happiness and peace of mind!
How do you know if you are deficient in vitamins and micronutrients necessary for a more productive brain? Where can you identify hidden chronic inflammatory conditions?
